Michael P. Murphy

Michael Patrick "Murph" Murphy (7 May 1976-28 June 2005) was a Lieutenant in the US Navy SEALs who was killed in Operation Red Wings during the Afghanistan War.

Biography
Michael Patrick Murphy was born in Smithtown, Suffolk County, New York in 1976, and he graduated from Pennsylvania State University before accepting a commission in the US Navy. Murphy joined the US Navy SEALs in July 2002, and he participated in several missions during the Iraq War and Afghanistan War. In June 2005, he was placed in command of a four-man squad which was tasked with assassinating Taliban commander Ahmad Shah near Asadabad in eastern Afghanistan in "Operation Red Wings". However, the four-man squad was ambushed by the Taliban after locals betrayed their positions to the insurgents, and Murphy decided to sacrifice himself to make a distress call. He climbed up to a cliff which was being overwhelmed by the Taliban, using the stronger cell reception to demand close air support from Jalalabad. Murphy was then shot several times in the back by Taliban commander Taraq, and he died of his wounds on the cliffside. The Chinook helicopter sent to rescue the survivors was shot down, leading to 16 more deaths.